Chart Market Economy 28th November 2008
Welcome once again to another exciting round up of a week in video game sales. It’s been quite the busy week and you certainly hear those christmas jingle bells just around the corner and while I’m not in my late 40s the christmas period certainly does often make me feel that way. Woolworths had the right idea in giving up, it’s too much like hard work lately. Still, serves them right for trying to push down the price of the Wii. £150 indeed. Crazy fools.
Right, let’s get busy with the fizzy and detail those sale(s).
10. R-Type Final £5.99
It’s nice to sell a good game sometimes. It’s quite rare it happens. It always comes as something of a shock as well. It had sat there for a very long time. I hope it’s not doing more on Amazon..
9. The Sims Superstar PC £5
Still going strong after all these years. I never got as far as installing Superstar myself before finally getting bored with it. Last one I played was Unleashed where the residents of my house were terribly upset about animals urinating outside their house. I have to say, that town really needed some kind of dog catcher or something as there an awful lot of them wandering around outside.
8. Mario Kart / Super Mario World Super Nintendo £10 each
What better time for nostalgia than the christmas period? Though I’m sure it will all end in tears when he discovers that Mario Kart isn’t actually as good a game as everyone remembers. Not that it’s ever been a good game. On any format.
7. PDC World Darts 2008 Wii £15
I’ve sold several Wii games lately. Could it be the christmas period is when I’ll get rid of all that rubbish that’s been cluttering up the shelves? Though have you seen how much FIFA 08 Wii is on Amazon? £40! Amazing. I’m sure it must be particularly good or something and not to do with no one bothering to list it. Or that no one bought it in the first place.
6. ATV 2 Playstation 2 £9.99
The offroad games are always popular around here. Something that puzzles me though is why these games feature lots of loud rock music when the people who buy them are the sort that have that awful dz-e-dz-e-dz-e stuff playing on their mobile phones all the time. Add some happy-hardcore-trance-gabba-wibba-wobba-whatever to the soundtrack and I’m sure you’d have an even bigger selling game.
5. Spyro 2 - Playstation £12.99
Again, this is pretty much always a christmas piece. It sits there all year then at christmas you can get up to £15 for it if you’re lucky. It’s been pretty much like this from the start. The prices usually get up pretty high online as well.
4. Midnight Club Los Angeles £24.99
Or Los Angeles Undercover as the customer requested. When I explained that they’d basically asked for two games there, they weren’t entirely sure which one they were really after. I told them that it was clearly Midnight Club as I didn’t have the other one in stock. So how could they want something that I didn’t have? My incredible logic clearly had them convinced.
3. Fable 2 Xbox 360 £29.99
I was really annoyed when I sold this. As I explained to the customer. I was hoping to take it home and play with it for a bit but oh no. Just an hour after I had taken it in some annoying customer requests it. I had it specially hidden behind the counter as well. I can’t resist money being waved in my face though.
2. DS Flash Cards
I don’t sell them but I get asked for them a lot. Apparently you can get them for £50 at the car boot with about 1000 games on them. Which is quite an achievement. So why should people bother buying the genuine article? Fascinating how well word has spread on these things. I try to tell people they’ll break their machine but they don’t believe me. So who’s looking forward to the region locked DSi? Anyone?
1. Dynasty Warriors 6 Extreme Christmas Empires Xbox 360 £???
Here in the hope that they release a special christmas patch where you can play a Free Market Economist slashing his way through all the annoying christmas shoppers asking for stupid things.
Overall it’s starting to become pretty obvious we’re in the christmas period. Everything is starting to fly off the shelves. And not just through poltergeist activity. Jethro DVDs proved rather popular as well as I sold five of them in one day, thus eliminating my entire stock.
I’m Derek Williams and through various hard disk crashes and so on, I’ve really not had enough time to prepare for tomorrow. Hope to see you all there though!
Challenge Ann #4: Getting free drinks
If this works I will be a) surprised b) delighted.
Dear People Who Work At Harmonix,
Hello! How are you?
My name is Ann and I do a radio show/podcast about videogames. Good, right? So that’s me. And then there’s you. You make Rock Band. Rock band is a game about making and sharing amazing times. I lo-ove amazing times.
So, I read in the ‘gaming news’ that you’ve all been paid quite a lot in bonuses because Rock Band’s done quite well. Well done you! Very much deserved, I’m sure.
Combining the above two points, why don’t you make and share in our amazing One Life Left Christmas party time by sponsoring the bar!
The party’s this Saturday (29th Nov) starting at 2pm going on late late. It’s at the Blue Posts on Rupert Street, London. There will be radio, industry celebrites, games and drinking.
Please feel free to drop by at any time to make your donation.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to share your millions, we are offering you an open invitation to come down to the party and arm wrestle Simon Byron (the one who does the PR for Guitar Hero, and conveniently also presents the show along with Ste Curran – he makes games) to settle the Rock Band vs Guitar Hero debate. He is deadly serious about this. I would advise you not to pussy out.
Either way, it’d be nice to see some of you there.
Hope you’re well! (of course you are, you’re rich)
Love,
Ann
Fingers crossed and wallets at the ready everyone.
One Life Left — s04e12 — #84 — Terrain Man
We’re halfway through Season 4 (like the day after the summer solstice it’s all downhill from here) but if you think we’re getting complacent, thing again: One Life Left #84 is a special episode with a special guest. But who’s the guest? And what’s the occasion?
It’s Rock Paper Shotgun’s very own Kieron Gillen! And it’s Simon Byron’s birthday, so he has the night off. Consequently this episode of OLL may sound a little bit different (we’ve not had to edit out any slander for a start, and we talk about video games quite a lot) but you can still expect the same quality of Xeroxed news, half-hearted reviews, games industry gossip and improbably brilliant features.
Download the episode from here (or subscribe on iTunes) and as always, tell everyone you love to do the same.
Crucuially (and you’ll hear this throughout the show) this is the last episode of One Life Left before our Christmas Party. It is HUGELY IMPORTANT you attend, whether this is the first episode you’ve listened to or the last. We’ll be recording a show, live, and an audience will make that better, but the radio part’s only a fraction of the day’s events; there’s our CD launch, live music performances, your chance to make friends / make enemies / make out with some games industry legends. It’s free. And it’ll be brilliant. I have no idea why you aren’t writing it in your diary already.
Oh, you are? Sweet! It’s at The Blue Posts on Rupert St, Soho, and it’ll be going on from 2pm until late, late, late. We’ll see you there, and for the after party, and the after-after party, and etc.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Chart Market Economy 21st November 2008
At the stall, freezing whilst typing up the week's chart
With just over one week to go until my live performance of Free Market Economy things takes the world by storm once again and barely a month until christmas, you can really tell things are really hotting up. Will Need for Speed Undercover make an exciting chart entry despite its shockingly poor quality? Will Mirror’s Edge’s demo quality reflect in quality sales? Will the world be at war over the new Call of Duty? Will.. (Just stop the rubbish puns and get on with it – Ste)
Okay then without further ado here are the results of this week’s games sales. In no particular order (It’s hardly a chart if you don’t do it in any particular order, now do a proper chart or else – Ste)
Grump.
10. Transformers (movie version) PS2 £10
Selling for good money, despite being a horribly boring and clunky game. It had actually sat on my shelf forgotten about for a good six months and I’d forgotten to reprice it. Naturally it was a case of a mum buying for her son. Gosh I love clueless parents.
Sometimes.
9. Fight Night 2004 PS2 £5
Initially this customer wanted a straight swap for his Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Simulator but that’s only worth £3. He came back later with £5 as he’d just sold his game for the money to ’some random bloke in a games shop’. See, every game tells a story. Probably.
8. Deal or No Deal DS £10
Random number picking is in this week. My cosmic ordering of wanting with all my heart to be rid of this game finally paid off after around 6 months of it gathering dust. I think this proves Noel is right. About everything. Ever.
7. Dogz Wii £10
Dogs wii. Snigger.
6. Grand Theft Auto IV 360 £17.50
It’s really not selling like it was but then it’s not really been as big as previous ones. I still get more requests for San Andreas. Many people are complaining it’s too short. I thought the whole point was you could play and mess around after doing the main game or even as you play through the main story. I still recall my unsuccessful first date in the game where we drove straight into the pond in the crazy golf course.
5. Guitar Hero III – Legends of Rock (game only) £17.50
It’s been here a while but only dropped £2.50. I’d have probably let it go for £15 really but only if absolutely necessary. They were going on to buy Guitar Hero World Tour afterwards which is why they didn’t need the guitar. I told them they should go out and buy Ro(CENSORED – Simon)
4. 50 Cent Bulletproof PS2 £5
True to form for the Doncaster public. They just love stabbing people in the eyes to rap music whilst wading through the floor. Or something. I’ve still got plenty in stock but this is a regular seller. Sadly.
3. Canis Canem Edit PS2 £5
Only slightly less objectionable than the 50 cent game. Did they really have to make the main character that ugly? It’s like staring at my customers all the time. The customer in question was particularly excited about the prospect of firing a catapult at people and beating people up. I’m sure he’ll be quite disappointed when he has to protect some nerds rather than kill them. As violence is the only thing these people understand I promptly beat him over the head with my chair until I’d knocked some sense into him.
2. Stranglehold 360 £7
Selling an astonishing two copies in one week elevates this to the number 2 position from nowhere. It’s normally a very poor seller. I try to convince people it’s really amazing, which it is, a bit. I tell them it’s like being in a Hong Kong action movie like say A Better Tomorrow or Hard Boiled. At which point I get a ‘huh?’ and it’s given back to me.
1. Dynasty Warriors 6 360 £5000
Pro Evolution 2009 was going to take the top spot via a comedy public vote but it kindly stepped aside to make way for games which truly deserve it.
So it’s over for another week. The Doncaster public ignoring my new release stock of Saints Row 2, Far Cry 2, Sontum of Qualace and Banjo Nuts and Bolts and Call of Duty 5. Are times that hard that people can’t afford £30 for a game? Hopefully things are going to improve in the next few weeks but right now, times are rather hard. Please help me not be homeless this christmas and send some money via paypal to (Snip! – That’s quite enough of that – Ste)
I’m Derek Williams and hopefully next week the computer won’t crash as I type this up, losing an hour’s work
Challenge Ann #2: Bringing down Gamestation
I have to congratulate Gamestation for responding to my email individually. Were I to work in the customer services department of an annoyingly marketed videogame retailer I don’t think I’d give stupid emails quite so much care or consideration.
But did I manage to bring them down? Or was all I got a fairly boring email?
Dear Ann,
Thanks for your recent enquiry. Everyone at Gamestation is working to deliver gaming for less this Christmas. The Gears of War 2 bundle that you mention is a great example – it launched at £79.99, reduced from £130 – and our customers loved it as it was a limited edition.
Fat Chris has been the Gamestation Christmas mascot for three years now and is much loved by our customers (there are several “Fat Chris” appreciation groups online). Gamestation is very proud to be an equal opportunities employer.
Yours Sincerely,
The Gamestation Team
What did we expect? That, I guess.
Thanks Gamestation! My rage comes and goes, so who knows when you’ll be back on my list, but for now, you’re in the clear.
Next stop – Operation Free Bar!
Ann
xx
One Life Left — s04e11 — #83 — Troll Booth
Om nom nom nom? What? No! The OTHER kind of troll, the one that resides on the internet and says naughty things to gain a lol-some reaction. That’s what OLL’s big mouth feels like this week. But who are we trolling, and why?
Oh, no-one, deliberately, obviously. We’re nice! We love everyone, even the gaming industry legends we insult. That’s why we promise to keep the really salacious anecdotes to the off-air stuff at the OLL party. But the best kind of troll is the accidental one, the off-hand quip you regret later, and while there’s no apology section this week we expect we’ll need one in #84. Sorry! Sorry.
OLL #83 also contains no less than five separate features, the continuation of some threads from episodes past and some excellent listener-letters. If you want to be on next week’s show you’re welcome to send us stuff, of course. Otherwise just tune in, silently listening, and enjoy. It is a fun one, we think.
Also, keep an eye on the blog for more BONUS CONTENT from presenters and contributors alike.
Music in #83:
Hello by Uoki-Toki
In the Year 200X by 8-Bit Metal
I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire
Special thanks to Derek, who’s struggling through computer problems to maintain his excellent contribution record.
ALSO. RSVP to our party. It is going to be awesome.
Download this show directly as an MP3 from here. WHY AREN’T YOU SUBSCRIBED YET? Sigh.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Challenge Ann #2: Bringing down Gamestation
You may remember this challenge from a few weeks ago. I was outraged, furious, incensed! Gamestation were selling a Gears of War 2 bundle featuring a replica Gold Lancer Assault Rifle for £130 in these times of frugality!
Pretty shocking, I’m sure you’ll agree. So angry was I that I left it three weeks to get in touch with them. From what you’re about to read you’ll understand why that three weeks was a good idea. I could have said anything back then.
So here it is, my stand for society and sensitivity in what people are now terming a ‘recession’:
Dear Gamestation,
How are you? Good? Great. Now the niceties are over I intend to get down to business pretty sharpish.
I read in the news, probably on eurogamer.net, about 3 weeks ago, that you were selling a Gears of War 2 bundle featuring a replica Gold Lancer Assault Rifle costing one-hundred and thirty pounds.
To say I was outraged would be an understatement. What a blatant show of frivolity considering the current economic climate. When my crunchy nut cornflakes are served with side of credit crunch every morning this is something I couldn’t let lie. Is a replica Gold Lancer Assault Rifle going to be of any compensation to a cleaner at one of the big banks who’s been made redundant? I hardly think so.
Since I have taken a while to contact you it would seem that the bundle is no longer available on your website. I hope this is because you came to your senses and realised how insensitive the product was and not because I am ill equipped to use the search function.
Also, ‘Fat Chris’? We’re in the middle of an obesity epidemic. Has Jamie Oliver taught us nothing?
I look forward to a more sensible approach to your products and marketing in the future.
Regards,
Ann
How are they going to come back to that? I guess we wait and see.
Oh, wow. That was quick. Gamestation are in my inbox already. Clearly they get the issue.
Dear Customer
Thanks for getting in touch; we will get back to you as soon as possible with an answer to your query.
Some of our more common queries are detailed on the web site help pages
http://www.gamestation.co.uk/Help/
For questions about which countries we deliver to:
http://www.gamestation.co.uk/Help/FAQ/#q3
Lost password?:
http://www.gamestation.co.uk/Account/LostPassword/
You can track orders here:
http://www.gamestation.co.uk/Help/TrackOrder/
Don’t worry if these don’t answer your query, we will respond to your question or request as soon as we can.
Please note that we are currently receiving a large volume of Customer Services queries – we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Thank you for shopping at gamestation.co.ukGamestation Customer Service
Gameplay (GB) Ltd. trading as Gamestation.co.uk
Company Registration No: 03221027
Company Registered in England
Registered Address: Unity House, Telford Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 6YJ
Not quite what I was after, but it’s a start.
I haven’t forgotten about Challenge Ann #1: CB Radio. I have a plan. No jumpsuits yet.
See you tomorrow for some radio!
Ann
xx
Chart Market Economy 14th November 2008
Welcome to the inaugural official One Life Left games chart compiled from sales, requests, discussion, thefts, trade ins and amount played. Naturally this can be considered an accurate reflection of the entire country, with Doncaster being the gaming nexus that it is. So without further ado here’s the top 10 in exciting reverse order
10. Smackdown Vs Raw 2008 (Xbox 360) £9.99
I got rid of one of the 5000 or so copies I’ve got hanging around here so that indeed qualifies it for a chart position this week. I just hope they don’t notice it was actually 2007 but I’d just used marker pen on the final number.
9. Pure (Xbox 360) £16.99
This irritatathon of XTREME characters saying annoying things whilst they race around boring muddy places sold for such a pitiful amount. It’s got a long way to go before it can compete with Mx Vs ATV. Probably.
8. Sonic The Hedgehog (Xbox 360) £9.99
Despite it being a horribly clumsy and poorly made game you can always sell it on the back of there not being very many particularly girl/kid friendly games for the 360. Apart from GTA IV that is.
7. Moto GP 06 (Xbox 360) £6.99
Normally a total non seller but gets a relatively high chart position because a) I managed to sell it and b) I managed to sell it for more than £3. Apparently it was being bought for a girl. How peculiar, girls can’t play games and if they did they certainly can’t play a motorbike one!
6. Fifa 09 (Xbox 360)
Well I haven’t actually sold this but I’ve been asked for it a few times so it must be quite popular. That counts right? The price is dropping very rapidly though with the shops all discounting it heavily. It appears to be down to £25 new in Gamestation over road
5. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) £19.99
I’ve sold two of them and I haven’t sold two of any other game this week but I don’t like it and it attracts unpleasant people so I’m marking it down out of spite.
4. Lego Star Wars 2 – The Original Trilogy (Xbox 360) £6.99
Technically this shouldn’t be anywhere near this high in the charts but Johnathan is a lovely chap so it can have a boost. Even if all the Lego games are the same with slightly different graphics. And I couldn’t figure out how to get started in this particular game. And these games are supposed to be for kids??
3. Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess (Wii) £24.99
Put the buntings out! I’ve sold a Wii game! Hurrah! Let’s go dancing in the streets! etc..
2. Mirror’s Edge Demo (Xbox 360)
Well I’ve been playing it rather a lot and I know quite a lot of people who have been playing it. It’s so astonishingly pretty that I’m only too happy to give it the number 2 spot, even if the full game is rather disappointing.
1. Dynasty Warriors 6 (Xbox 360) £5000
It’s better than all the rest put together so obviously it deserves the number one spot. It retains a high price in all the local shops and no one ever sells it to me so it must be such a good game no one will part with it.
So what do these charts tell us? The Xbox 360 has taken an astonishing 90% market share and the PS3 and PS2 are over! The Wii is on a massive resurgence having sold something that isn’t Wii Fit. If I were Sony I’d pull out of the market immediately, based on these sales.
I’m Derek Williams and I’ve just been asked for some “old DS Advance Games.”
One Life Left — s04e10 — #82 — Party Favour
No last-minute dramas this week, except that the show before ran on for three minutes into our slot and we were outraged. And which week is this? It’s week in which Simon organised one party but mostly One Life Left got excited about another one. It’s show #82.
And we’ll let the actual content of the show reveal itself to you, with all the features, news, reviews and music waiting for you like a girl on stage awkwardly awaiting carnal instruction. No spoilers, except to say we do actually genuinely talk quite a lot about videogames in this one. I know! We were quite surprised too. Especially Ann.
Most pertinently, the Facebook party page for people who want to join us at our once-a-year Christmas bash on Saturday 29th of November is here. If you are reading this then you are genuinely invited. We want to see you there. You will have fun.
Music in #82: Not a lot, really, but the one chiptune thing we played is worth it…
Sexy Synthesizer — Follow Me
Love Machine — Girls Aloud
I’ll leave you to guess which one that is. Oh, and two contributions from our friends, of course. No spoilers. See you next week!
Download episode #82 right here. Though really we’d prefer it if you did that through iTunes, right? We’re all about the hits. Tell your friends, etc.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
One Life Left — s04e09 — #81 — Rush Hour
No time for a long explanation here because 1/3 of One Life Left is getting a flight to Lyon in a few hours, which leaves precious little time for sleep / lying awake, regretting all the things you said today. But we should explain why there’s three minutes missing from this week’s show…
Public transport. Ste left Brighton in plenty of time to reach the Resonance FM studios but a series of problems on the British rail network (four separate issues, detail fans) left him fighting his way through rush hour as Ann and Simon broke out the emergency CDs. Ste made it with seconds to spare — the theme was about fifteen seconds in — but, as a few weeks ago, we weren’t set up to record.
So that’s why the show starts just after Ann’s pleas with Simon not to talk about what she got up to on Friday night at Nottingham Game City. Some of our listeners will already know. The rest will have to put together pieces from the fragments of information here, in episode 81 of Europe’s favourite tenuously-related-to-videogames show, One Life Left.
Music:
Spring // Resplendent / Downey
Illusional Hop // Anthony Lofton & Joshua Morse
Glasgow Mega-Snake // Mogwai
That’s it. See you next week. Oh, and please come to our party on the 29th of November. It’s going to be brilliant and you’ll be able to buy a CD! Srsly.
Download episode 81 here. But really, why aren’t you subscribed by now?
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.